This invention relates in general to seats, and more particularly to vehicle seats whose positions may be adjusted fore and aft.
Vehicles, such as passenger cars, include seats for the driver and passengers. These can include bucket-style seats or bench-style seats. The seats for the driver and front-seat passenger are typically adjustable, including the ability to be slid forward and backward within a range of positions. This allows the driver, for example, to select a position for the seat that is the most comfortable when operating the vehicle.
Some vehicles allow a seat to be moved in order to facilitate access to the space behind the seat. This is common in two-door cars, where one door provides access to the front row of seats as well as a rear row of seats. The front seat may be “dumped,” wherein the seat is moved to its forward-most position in order to allow easy access to the rear seats. The front seat is then moved back to a use position when access to the rear seats is no longer needed.
Some adjustable seats include a memory system that allows the seat to automatically lock into place when the seat is moved to a position previously selected by an occupant after the seat has been dumped. Thus, the occupant does not have to manually adjust the seat position every time the seat is dumped. It is desirable to have an improved memory system for returning the seat to the user-selected position.